98 Patriot Seaward hot water heater circuit no power

[Gary Wolfer]

a couple days ago I had my computer plugged in at the dinner table to the plug in by the furnace duct under the refrigerator and my screen was dimming and bright so I put a circuit tester on and it was getting intermittent power. I switched to a different circuit and all was fine. Last night I turned the air conditioner on and it quit like it blew a circuit breaker. This morning there was no hot water. I checked circuit breakers at the shorepower all was fine. I checked the service panel in the bedroom and all was fine. Last year I installed a 2800 magnum and after that there are 3 30 amp breakers in a separate box and none were kicked. I checked the bathroom plug to see if the GFCI was kicked it would not reset but was no power there either. The front air conditioner will not work this morning even the fan will not come on when I switched to on position. The fan on the back air conditioner does come on. These items all must be on the same circuit but I cannot find a circuit breaker kicked or gfci kicked.  The coach is a 98 patriot.

[Fred Brooks]

                  Gary, Sounds like you have lost one of the 50amp legs of 120volt power coming into the coach. To verify if that is the case, remove the circuit breaker cover that houses all the 120 volt circuit breakers and check the a/c voltage at the red wire at the 50amp main breaker, then the black wire. If that is the case, the issue could be the transfer switch, power reel (if equipted) or the site pedistall. The air conditioner and water heater get their power from the house circuit braker box. Hope this helps, Fred

[Gary Wolfer]

Thanks Fred you are spot on. I took the cover off the 50 amp panel and hooked my multimeter black lead to the ground bus bar and the red to the red wire and nothing. Then I hooked my red multimeter lead to the black wire and got just over 120v. Now I need to test it at the post but not sure if I can test it with the little probes on my multimeter. If I only get one leg there it is in the shore power and if I get both legs it is the transfer switch right? Not sure which wires to touch on the 50 amp since there is ground and 3 wires is the middle wire neutral? and the two side wires red and black each leg? can I ground to any ground or do I have to ground to the neutral or the ground on the plug? Sorry I barely know how to use a multimeter.

[Ron Johnson]

Gary this has happened to us several times [we have a Magnum 2800 as well] and have found if you flip the 50 amp breakers on the post off then on after a minute everything is good again. I am thinking the EMS detects an electrical anomaly and is programmed to 'shed' power which is always the front AC, the hot water and the Laundry plug. Not very scientific but I have not been able to track anything electrical that is happening that may cause this. If it happens again i will check the other 2 plugs you mentioned.

BTW I have tried resetting the breakers for the 3 circuits I mentioned above as well as resetting the 50 amp main breakers in the Coach and it doesn't work - resetting the breakers on the post does work. We both have old wiring so maybe a weak breaker onboard in sending some kind of signal to the  EMS - just guessing. Good luck.

[Joel Ashley]

We too have experienced bad post equipment, Gary.  Try Ron's suggestion as it often resets the outlet.  On one occasion the park had to replace the breaker in the box, and on another they reset the master in a large supply box for that section of the RV park.  Park power is out in the weather, often old, exposed to bugs and dirt, and subject to wear as the breakers get switched on and off regularly, which isn't what breakers are designed for.  So it's quite common to have them go belly up or have incomplete contact internally.  The park management should take care of it;  you shouldn't have to mess with the breakers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs8FxyvahDM

Joel

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Here's a simple checker you can build that will enable you to verify good power from the post before plugging in your coach. It's also handy to verify power in case of a power loss. A few years ago I built a number of them for sale on ebay.
Steve

[LaMonte Monnell]

These are very sharp testers Steve. I may try to build one, even though I am not very electrically inclined. LOL!

Thanks for the schematic to do it.

[Lee Welbanks]

Steve,

With the power tester instruction pdf, under wiring it should read (2 120 Volt/ 50 amp circuits). Here's a nice U-Tube video on testing a 50 amp park stanchion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs8FxyvahDM&feature=PlayList&p=D7B52071A5CDFEE7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=15

I usually do a quick test with a Fluck Multi-meter before hooking up. My PT will test the circuits before powering up the coach, but I just got into the habit and also test the water pressure. Have seen some scary water pressure in a couple of camp grounds.

[Roy C Tyler]

Gary, do you have a GFI in your basement?  Also, are you at your lot in Winchester Bay?  If so, that post has been there a long time and is exposed to salt water.  Could be a bad breaker.

[Gary Wolfer]

Yeah Chuck I am here on my lot at Winchester Bay. I tried the multimeter today on the 50 amp shore post but the probes did not work could not get a reading at all. I been busy all day bought a new to me larger boat today. Got home late so I will take the cover off the power box in the morning. I hope the leg on the shorepower is dead on one side a new breaker would be a lot cheaper than a transfer switch however this high end coach has a cheap esco Power transfer 50  transfer switch at least it is mounted on the wall next to my inverter and I can lay inside the compartment if I need to change it. Also the box is bigger than the last one I changed in my son's Safari. It was smaller and in a dedicated box with the inverter and it was tough bending the 50 amp cord around in there. This one will be easier to get to if i have to change it out. I probably will not smell too good by the time I get a transfer switch in the mail.

[Gary Wolfer]

I got the bright idea to try the generator and all of a sudden the washing machine started to fill with water. I forgot I had turned the dial earlier today and now I have to cycle the water out lol. I had tried to heat the water earlier by turning the hurricane heater on but it only ran for a few minutes then shut down. Tonight I got all kinda of things going on but when I started the generator and before it started generating the lights went out then it started generating power but the tv had to  reset and Patty was in the middle of the Voice and now I am in trouble when I shut the generator off again tonight. I had better leave it on for a couple hours. I will see if the water gets hot. Then I will know if I can use the generator again in the morning to get some hot water. I pulled the 50 amp plug from shore power for now. Thanks for all your suggestions I will update tomorrow.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Lee,
I put the checker together to avoid having to mess with a multi-meter and wonder if I was making contact with the blades inside the post receptacle. Much easier (IMHO) to plug in the same type plug the coach uses and verify status by looking at 4 lights.
Steve

[Lee Welbanks]

Steve,

Agree on the multi-meter and contacts, I've seen a couple of other testers out there but yours is much simpler and also cheaper to make with common hardware store parts.

[Gary Wolfer]

This morning I went out to the to amp shore power box and checked the 50 amp plug after removing the cover, It had power to both sides then I threw the switch back and forth for a few times and wala it quit on one side. I pulled the breaker and one wire came loose when I popped it out. It had arcing black marks on the back side of the clamp and the clamp was so tight it could not have had wire in it. Apparently whoever installed it poked it in behind the clamp by mistake so it was intermittent. I have been using it since last december lucky I did not have a melt down or fire. since it had arced before I just changed out the breaker it was only 12 dollars anyway. Thanks for all your help.

[Joel Ashley]

Glad to hear we were on the right track, Gary, and the fix was simple and inexpensive.  But I'm not sure the cost and effort wasn't the park's responsibility, instead of yours;  it's their equipment.

Joel